The rail industry’s leading elevated cable containment system – has reinforced its reputation for sustainability by gaining major environmental certification –ARCOSYSTEM.
Complete Composite Systems (CCS) is delighted to announce that ARCOSYSTEM has officially achieved Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) verification. An EPD is a formal document that demonstrates a firm commitment to environmental responsibility and transparency. It is based on a detailed and independently verified life cycle assessment (LCA) that determines the environmental impact, such as of greenhouse gas emissions, of a certain product throughout its entire lifespan.
There were two LCAs conducted for ARCOSYSTEM; one relating to the installation of the system via ground-mounted sigma posts, and the other based on attaching the flexible ARCO cable troughing to bridges and walls.
These LCAs were conducted under what is specified as a ‘cradle to gate with options’ boundary. This covers the extraction/cultivation of raw materials, the processing of raw materials, the production of the finished product (including packaging), all transportation and waste stages throughout the supply chain, and the end-of-life of the product.
This robust study was conducted in line with ISO 14040/44, ISO 14025 and EN 15804 by the independent consultancy Fishwick Environmental Ltd. It was then critically reviewed by an accredited independent verifier, and published by the International EDP System, the world’s first and longest-running operational EPD programme, founded in Sweden in 1998.
This important milestone is not just a stamp of approval – the certification serves as a quantitative environmental profile of ARCOSYSTEM’s creation, manufacturing, distribution and end-of-life. The product-specific results allow contractors, specifiers, engineers, clients and other stakeholders to view impartial evidence of the environmental profile of ARCO, and invites comparisons with similar products that also have a published EPD.
Achieving EPD verification also makes CCS’s decarbonisation measures for ARCOSYSTEM transparent to prospective customers who are focused on sustainability and want to work with companies who take their environmental responsibilities seriously.
It provides further confidence that ARCOSYSTEM is designed with environmental impact in mind, while maintaining the highest levels of efficiency and long-term durability. It also illustrates that ARCOSYSTEM is not just the most innovative solution for elevated cable containment on the market, but also one of the most sustainable.
Key Features and Benefits of ARCOSYSTEM:
- An elevated cable management system that safely encloses and protects high-voltage and digital communication cables for long runs alongside railway tracks
- Troughing and lids are manufactured from pultruded glass fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP/GRP) which excel in structural and load-bearing performance and offer strong resistance to heat, water, corrosion and UV rays compared to more common materials, thereby providing a long lifespan and sustainability
- Composite construction means the troughing is lightweight, allowing for flexibility when installing along a challenging trackside route as height and directional changes can be accommodated with ease
- Supported by a bespoke range of laser-cut galvanised steel brackets, the troughing can be post-mounted, wall-hung or fixed to a variety of trackside structures such as bridges, railings, rock faces, noise barriers or hillside slopes
- Troughing can span up to 6m between support posts, making installation quicker and more cost-effective than traditional ground-based systems
- Twin-walled design of the troughing enables the system to resist lateral forces from embankment subsidence, high snow loads and wind effects from high-speed trains
- Constant working temperature range from -40˚C to +80˚C
- Carries cable loads of up to 90kg/m
- Troughing available in different cell sizes to accommodate a range of cable load requirements or spatial restrictions
The sigma post-mounted EPD for ARCOSYSTEM can be viewed here, and the bridges and wall-mounted version is available here.
CCS has previously released EPDs for two of its other products, TouchSAFE composite palisade fencing and our composite ballast boards.
This article first appeared in the Railway-News Magazine Issue 1 2025. Download the full PDF version here.
